Various researchers have focused attention on odors and their connection with sexuality. Almost a hundred years ago, Sigmund Freud was concerned that if the sense of smell was not repressed, men—but not necessarily women—would walk around sexually excited all the time. Freud also linked odor with the Oedipal conflict when he said that during a boy's development, he learns to recognize the odor of both parents, and eventually he comes to dislike the father's odors and have positive associations with the mother's odors. Although Freud also spoke of the Electra Complex, a corresponding development conflict in girls, he made no mention of the significance of the parent's odors in female psychological maturation.
In men, an erection occurs when increased blood flow to the penis causes spongelike chambers to become engorged as the blood vessels of the penis expand. In women, arousal causes increased blood flow to the vagina, which expands the vaginal tissues and stimulates the release of lubricating fluids along the walls of the vagina. The clitoris becomes engorged during the arousal phase because of increased blood flow to the region.
Sexual dissatisfaction is common among married couples in our society, and arousal disorders are a very common form of sexual dysfunction. In the early 1950s, a survey by sex researcher Alfred Kinsey found that 10 percent of married women never experienced coital orgasm. (Kinsey et al., Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders (1953)). In 1956, a British study of 3,705 women reported that 10 percent of women rarely experienced orgasm and another 5 percent never experienced orgasm during intercourse. (E. Chesser, The Sexual Marital and Family Relationships of the English Woman, London: Hutchinson's Medical Publications (1956)). In the 1970s, a study in the United States reported 17 percent of women seen at a gynecologic clinic stated that they had difficulty achieving orgasm with a partner, and 6 percent had never experienced orgasm with a partner. (E. Frank et al., N. Engl. J. Medicine 299:111 (Jul. 20, 1978)).
Research into olfactory-related sexual behavior has been documented in laboratory animals. Pheromones, which are chemical substances produced by an organism for purposes of chemo-communication with another of the same species, have been documented in many animals. Pheromones are not consciously recognized by the brain but influence hormone production, and sexual attraction, drive and even behavior. Although pheromones exist throughout the animal kingdom, it is not known for certain that human pheromones exist. One postulated human pheromone system concerns menstruation. It has been observed that women who live in close contact with one another menstruate together. Another system involves the steroid androsterone which has been named as a pheromone that is secreted from the apocrine glands located in the underarm area and around the genital organs. Androsterone has been found to have an attractant effect on women and an aversive effect on men. Alternate theories suggest that what we call potential pheromones are simply odors associated with sex, and human response to them is conditioned.
There has been other research into the olfactory-sexual link. When the olfactory bulb was lesioned in hamsters, it caused an impaired sex drive. An olfactory-sexual connection has also been observed in laboratory animals that were castrated. The castration led to both impaired sexual drive and olfactory functioning. Ovariectomies led to both impaired sexual functioning and reduced olfactory ability. Lesions of the olfactory bulb or of the nasal cartilage alone, caused both an olfactory deficit and a malformation of the developing animal's sex organs. These studies indicate a link between olfaction, olfactory organs and sexual functioning.
The linkage between olfactory function and sexual function has also been recognized in a clinical setting. Over 17% of individuals with chemosensory dysfunction who develop impaired sexual desire or other sexual dysfunction, (i.e., Kallmann's syndrome), have both an olfactory deficit and impaired sexual drive and functioning. (Kallmann, F. J., Schoefeld, W. A., and Barrera, S. E., “The genetic aspects of primary eunuchoidism,” Am. J. Mental Deficiency 48:203–236 (1944)). Other diseases that impair both olfactory ability and sexual functioning concomitantly include cerebral vascular disorders, Parkinson's disease, senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type, hypothyroidism, and vitamin deficiency states including B12 deficiency.
Treatment of a repressed or overly stimulated sex drive can include counseling directed toward dealing with insecurities and enhancing feelings of affection and receptiveness, or reducing sexual aggressiveness. Treatments for enhancing or inhibiting female sexual capacity and response include medications such as vaginal lubricants, or psychotherapy, group therapy, cognitive therapy or behavior therapy. However, such treatments have not been totally effective, are invasive can cause unwanted side effects, and are inconvenient and complex.
Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a non-invasive method of enhancing or inhibiting the female sexual response and arousal level, that is convenient, safe, and easy to perform.